Are things in the UK as bad as it sounds in the news?

[Lolobella]

I left the UK in 2017 and now live in Europe. I obviously still follow the UK news closely and visit, although I have no family left there.

In the last few months the UK news have become increasingly grim and concerning. I can't tell if it is just the news painting the country in a worse light than necessary, or if things are genuinely as bad as the news make it sound.

Obviously this is a tough historical moment for many countries, but the doom and gloom in UK news is just on another level and makes if sound like the country is in free fall. Poverty, strikes, crazy energy prices, failing NHS and public services.. Is it really so bad?!

@PigletJohn
I expect they would like it if the poor people died at an earlier age from lack of care whilst only wealthy and important people like them got to live to a ripe old age?

But then, they would lose their membership and voters.

They would have to change their policies to stop disregarding schools, universities, student loans, zero-hours contracts, costs of first homes, and low pay for working people. All the things that are of less concefn to older voters.

Perhaps nurses would start to get a triple-lock, instead of pensioners.

Tories know which side of their bread is buttered.

Agree totally. It only pensioners they care about

Or maybe they don't have any spare money to put aside for the cost of this

I think they will have to soon start appealing to younger people if they want to do anything to address the problems that will ensue from falling birth rates

Just got off phone to DD, she knows the NHS has asked trusts to empty beds in prep for ambulance strike... she said we have patients in corridors, store rooms......

On her ward she has 11 med fit patients who have no where to go ...family wont have them without a care package and no care packages.. old folks homes closing.. agencies returning contracts to councils.

No money? So whats the alternative?

Feels like the Tories are just going to let the country burn 😬

The cost of 24/7 care is astronomical no one can afford it
we can't devote the whole of the economy to keeping elderly people alive for as long as possible, as nice as it might be they'll just be lying there for decades doing nothing sucking up all the money

The cost of 24/7 care is astronomical no one can afford it
Well yes they can, they sell their houses and pay for care. When the money runs out they use their pension (apart from £25 per week) and attendance allowance to pay towards it.

Those two posts by Soothsayer1 one right after the other are unintentionally hilarious.
''Tories are terrible, let old people die!''

I think the government has descended into asset stripping the country to the benefit of them and their mates. I don't think they give a shiny shite what becomes of the rest of us.

I can't believe I actually feel a little nostalgic for Thatcher. She was awful, but at least she was smart, capable and had principles, even if I disagreed with most of them.

Haven't RTFT, but wondering if anyone has been silly enough to say 'no'?

Things are crap and it's just getting worse. Anything else is a lie.

Yep agree with this.

*The cost of 24/7 care is astronomical no one can afford it

we can't devote the whole of the economy to keeping elderly people alive for as long as possible, as nice as it might be they'll just be lying there for decades doing nothing sucking up all the money*

Perhaps we should shoot them instead?

@CremeEggThief pretty close! A fair amount of "It's like this in loads of places" 🙄

as if other countries have gone through the massive act of self harm that is Brexit... with the degree of corruption of our government...

How can people save for their dotage when they have to choose between heating and eating in their youth?

I think the idea is that having to make that choice in their youth means they don't reach their dotage, so the problem is neatly avoided.

pretty close! A fair amount of "It's like this in loads of places"

Do you want only one type of post? Bit hard to control that on here

Well I mean we did try the equivalent of this by sending them all back to the care homes with Covid. Some of the blighters seem to have slipped through the net though.

So Virginiaplain has come to the conclusion that it is all the fault of the those who cannot afford to pay for care home fees, i.e. the 'troublesome poor'.

The 'troublesome poor' in this case would include the majority of essential workers, those who work in health care services, transport, retail, education workers, etc. considering, the latest research shows that average care home fees range from £27,000– £55,000 per annum for a residential care home,

Perhaps we should shoot them instead?
I dont mean to cause offense@ArseInTheCoOpWindow, but it's a bit worrying that that is where your mind goes!

I think the government has descended into asset stripping the country to the benefit of them and their mates
whether by design or default that seems to be where we are at

Boris seemed to have no problem telling everyone at the start of Covid that he was shaking hands with everyone but their granny would die....

Then Tory HQ pointed out that most Tory members were grannies who didn't want to die and then Boris himself almost died.

This establishment's issue with Philip was that it was immediately after the war many of Philip's immediate family had been nazis.

However, the royal family had this problem too.

So bad that if I didn’t have family commitments here I’d be off to live over our border in Ireland! It’s a complete shit show!

Do you think those with cancer or have suffered other illnesses should pay for their own care (and treatment) from their houses as well?

Why do people think dementia and Parkinsons should be treated differently?

Social care should be paid for, at least to some extent, in my opinion. IHT would be a good way as it is a wholly avoidable tax in many cases. If you don't hoard, you don't pay it. Of course I am thinking of elderly people, whereas if you die suddenly at 40, you may have a family who needs supporting. But there are definitely more equitable ways and means of paying for social care.